Braking system



Sept. 21, 1943. R. K. JEFFREY BRAKING SYSTEM Original Filed Aug. 4, 1939s Sheets- Sheet 1 f/Vl/E/VTOQ, 1205151217 K. JEFFQEY, MM. 7%. 71m,

ATTY

Sept. 21, 1943. R. K. JEFFREY BRAKING SYSTEM Original Filed Aug. 4, 19393 Sheets-Sheet 2 fNVf/VTOP ROBERT KJEFFBEY,

oou l Sept. 21, 1943. I R. K. IJEFFREYV' 2,329,838

BRAKING SYSTEMv Original Filed Aug. 4, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 HIGHPRESSURE AccuMuLAT oR SUMP ROBEQT K:JEr-FEEY 5, //v VEN TOE ATT YPatented Sept. 21, 1943 f The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, aeotp'orationof Ohio Y I Novemher 22,1941; Serial N o 420,072

6 Claims. (C1. 188*107) 1 h i e iel esgiol ib ekes Systemp ii u a l a errso p in h evysy ei ea such asrnine locomotives v Anlobiect of the-invention is t9 fi fovide afhrake system which is particularlyadaptdfio control the brakes of Veh cles Of" the} above lmentibned typeand to maintain the system in prober "working. condition afterreasonable wearofithe 'lorake Still I another obJect r the inventionislto r'o .vide an improved hydraulic braking systernwwhieh floifnbinesa powe? l Operatedbraking system and a manually operatedibrakingsysterni7 Other objects of the inven'idnigvvilll appear hereinafter, the; novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in .the appended claims. A

iv-i s-ihe c e re n ldra n s; 1

. Fig. 1 is a =plan-view,-of-"a mine-locomotive: in

cluding the hydraulic braking systemjzof vention; I.

1 All Figs 2--isa side .elevational viewer theirnining (mMhineoi -ili;Eig'. 131*.iS .a'apiping rdiag-ram of the; hydraulic brake system ofTiny; invention showinggth oper'+'-' atingmechanisms schematically- 1'v:

s: Fig.- 4 isxan' enlarged pview taken ion the line 4-.v laof-;FiLlookingziri therdirectioni of shearrows;- rFig.-;5is an ehlargedzviewof the automatic brake adjusting mechanism; 1 l i p fitiisfa"siderreleva'ti'onal :view of two mine locomotives of aitrainjconne'otedin tandem;

:Iz'Fig; 7.,is a piping diagram of the preferred hy ,draulicsxsystemforxthe locomotives in tandem, system being similar to that shown inFig; 3 except thatthe-economizer is omitted; and

a :Fig: 8 is adiagramma'tic illustration of awheel drive for the pump. PThis application-Asa division of my application,

'Serial' -No; 288,38'Tffiled August 4, 1939, for an ilnproveinentin 'aHydraulic brake system, now Patent No. 2267 656; dated December 23,1941.

Referring "tol 'igs 1 and 2- 'of the drawings, there is illustratedamine locomotive incorporatjiiigthehydraulic brake? system of myinvention, and whilethe system "is susceptible to'moregeneral-iapplijcation 1 as Q for example, in connection 'withtrucks; tractors, or anyother similar heavy equipmentv it isparticularly useful in combinawiltd ali inel locomotive because oi thefact that thesieinine locomotives are'eui't e limited inj'sigeibirticularly in vtheir height, and it isl'essen- Q P v Z W-s Qbrake zmeshae m r u a m eeiim 9 p c a -whi e a t e e e affording frame20 formed, or a'pair of spaced side" plates 2 1,2!" the ends ofWhich'areccnnected by cro splates'zz, 22'; Each cross-plate flQcarriesacom bined. bumper and coupler 23'vvliich is'preferabi'y in .theiiorm ofa heavy; castingwhich is bolted-"to adjacent cross-platen. I f 4 -The.main frame 20 is, supported uponhur wheels zl adapted to' ridealongrails-250i ermine track. 'Whee1s' 24; are rigidlyattirefled;to v axles26'. I 26 which" are" journaled" in spring- =mouiited journ'al boxes21,1], j The; axles 25,'--26 are driven by electric motors-"28, 28 whichderive power from aminetrolleyfll. 577i, i

it It is to 'benoted that thelocoinbtl-ve is provided with] dualcontrols and that it maybe I controlled from either .end; andftp thiseni'i' tl 1ere -is a-seat 3i! for the operator at each 'enda'djacenflwhich-is an "electrical motor controller -3l-,' a control-Waive 32forthe power operated hydraulic lirakle system and a hand" wheel- 33--i1{ m hanically operating the'braking'system.- w is It is wisenoted=that-eaclii riaiid wheeriaaeis "mounted for free -rotatidhiaxidacslrriesia feed crew- 34*which "feeds into a num's carriedion alaterally"extending-equalizerbar '36 bne endzoi which is? connect-es toa iirakei 'operatingiehain 31, the= other 'e'nd of whioh is cnnectiedstoaihrake operatingfrod fli -Thechain Gidndirodiiifliior the hand :wheelsat opbosite ends efiithe lecoinos trated in Fig.1 of the drawing'sx .c:.1 s

jtiveare on reverse sides thereof as clearly illus- 1 Oneach sideoftheloconiotive and cobperating with both-wheel's 24'orii'atsingle. sideisa1:hraki-hg Prn'echahlrn r designated generally byrthe reierencecharacter -39. j {Saidhraking mechanismi 3,9;comprises'brakeshoes 40;None associated .with each "the tops of levers '52 ito-ii'r'ard feaclithere about their pivotal connectionsftosaint liiilt li lt is evident."that thisjcbflfspljihg 44 thereforehiases Lthefbrake' j'sho'es All .totheir releasedr ma- Directly above the coil spring 44 and connectedbetween the two levers 42 is a hydraulic piston motor or jack 45, whichis adapted to be expanded or contracted to apply or release the brakingmechanism 39. I

Directly above the hydraulic piston motor or jack 45 is an automaticbrake adjusting mechanism 55 illustrated in detail in Fig. 5 of thedrawings. Said automatic brake adjusting mechanism 55 comprises agenerally cylindrical casting 5| which is pivotally attached to on ofapairof levers 42, 42, by a lost motion connection provided by elongatedslots one of which is seen'at 52 formed in the bifurcated head of thecastin 5| which slots 52 cooperate with the pivot pin 53 carrying atopposite ends retaining washers and cotter keys.

Slidable within a central bore 54 in the casting 5| is a cylindrical rod55 having a bifurcated head which is pivotally attached to the otherlever 42 of the above mentioned pair. Rod 55 is provided withratchet'teeth 55 which'cooperate with a spring-pressed detent 51 carriedin a wellin the casting 5!. It is evident by reference to Fig. 5 of thedrawings that the rod 55 may slide freely to the right with respect tothe casting 5| with the detent 51 ratcheting over the teeth 55, butmovement of said rod 55 toward the left with respect to said casting'5lis pre-- vented. f It is evident from the structure of said brakeadjusting mechanism 50 that the two levers 42 mayfreely move withrespect to eachother without any relative movement between the castin 5|and the rod 55 to the limits provided by the slots 52. However, anygreaterrnovement in an outward direction results in an expansion of theeffective length of the brake adjusting mechanism 55 and this insures arelatively fixed amount of: slack in thebraking mechanism 39.

'The upper ends of the two levers 42 are pivotally attached tothe-aforedescribed chains 3'! and rods 38 of;the manually operable brakemechanism. That is, each of the braking mechanisms 39 has a chain 31pivotally attached to the top. of one of the levers 42 which acts toaccumulate slack when the brakes are released and, a rod 38 pivotallyattached to the top of the 'other member 42. Furthermore, as clearlyseen by reference to Fig. l of the drawings, from each'handiwheel 33there is a chain- 31 a'nd a rod 38 leading to a braking mechanism 39.

It is thus evident thatthe brakes may heapplied to the mine locomotiveeither by operating v either of the manually controllable handwheels 33which provides for a purely mechanical braking mechanism operable fromeither end of the locomotive, or by controlling the hydraulic pistonmotors or jacks 45 associated with each braking mechanism 35, which alsomay be controlled by control valves 32 from either end of thelocomotive.

.by the connecting link 43 which, of course, ex-

pands the link mechanism .42, 42 to apply the brakes. The link 43 restsin a hook 43 secured r to the adjacent side plateZ l.

. Also, upon the expanding of the two hydraulic .piston motors or jacks45, which are operated together so as to apply the braking mechanism 39on both sides of the vehicle simultaneously,

handle Ii dis provided for the twojcontrol valves 32 and it is .so-arranged, as hereinafter' described, that said" handle H 5" can" 'beremoved from "one control valve 32 for use on'th'e other-controlvalve'75 the levers 42, 42 are expanded or moved away from each other aboutthe pivots at their bottoms to apply the brake mechanisms.

When the hand wheels 33 are operated to the brake releasing positionsand .the hydraulic piston motors or jacks 45 arejreleased, the coilsprings 44 associated with the two braking mechanisms 39 will operate torelease the braking rived by a pump 59 by way of pipe 60 and from whichit is fed by pipe Bl to the rear end of a high pressure hydraulic fluidaccumulator 62. The-pipe BS branches from the pipe 61 and leads to thehead end of the-accumulator 62'through a check valve 64 which allows thehydraulic fluid to now toward said headfen'd- -but preventsreverseflowthereof; V f

A return ordraih for the system includes a pipe '9! between thejlowpressure end of the accumulator 62 and the sumpor reservoir SB-and pipesH9, I20, US which drain different parts of the systemconriectingintosaid'pipe' 5|. 7

A pipe IZI c nnecting one side of thelvalve 32 with the oppositesidebyconnection with the high pressure pipe IDS-is a factor-"in the balancingfeature of'said valve 32. Y

A pipe ill-connects the ends of the economizer to the pipe H5 whichleads to the hydraulic-motors or K545." A p pe 118 connects the lowpressure'end-of the accumulator62 to theeconomizer H4.

The function of the accumulator 62'is tw0- fold. In the first place itaccumulates hydraulic fluid under relatively high pressure which isavailable foroperating the hydraulic piston motors or jacks 45 of thebraking'mechanisms 39 even though the pumpJBS-hasceased to operate. Inthe secondplace it is provided with reducing valve means so thatthe'pressure of the hydraulic fluid delivered from the accumulator issubstantially constantoveralarge range of operation regardless of thepressure in'theiaccumulator or the pressureidelivered by thep'ump 59.

lt maybepointed'outthat a pipe HUleads to the interior ofithegaccumul'atorT .62' adjacent'lthe high pressure end:thereof;and topressure gauges Hi, there being oneadja'centeach of .the' con-'- trolvalves;32 so the operator at eitheroperating station may 'be' apprisedof the pressure offlthe fluid in the accumulator 62. 3:1"; r, :591'.

It may be pointed out, asisho'wn'inllig. 30f thedrawings, that thehydraulic fluid is conduct ed by pipe, I59 to one of the:controlvalves-32 and thence by a pipe I I2 to the other of said controlvalves 32 from whence it flows bypipe j l3 to an economizerli lwhicheconomizes the use of thehigh pressure hydrauliqfluidrfrom whicheconomizer hydraulic fluid is deliverdby way of pipe Hi to feed. pipe 49leadingto the'two hydraulic piston inotorsor 'jacks 45 connected inparallel. 1. If It may bejstatedthatonly. a single operating 32 byadjusting theone control-valve from which the handle'is removed tothefull-on position, =un-' den which conditions the? hydraulic fluid-flowsfreely' through" the control valve 32 from which the handle H6has-been-removed -without eifect.

1 Attention is now-directed particularlyto-Ffigs. -l-f f'and 4- ofthedrawings, and to the physical structure of certain other elements of thehydraulic braking system; It is to benoted that the reservoir =58 isformed between the down- -Mounted upon the channel I82 is an electricdriving motor I85 which drives thepump 59 which is mounted-upon a baseI86-formi-ng a part ofthe sump 58. The ba'seI86 alsois provided with anoil receiving-pipe I81 having aremovable breather cap I88, which pipe187 is adapted to receive hydraulic :Eluicl or oil tore- .pl'enish thatlost in the system.

locked with any pressure exerted on the wheels 'Ihe accumulatonm iseffective to mamtainza reserve supply tit-hydraulic fluid underhigh-pres sure which is available even :though, the pumps has stoppedand this is particularly importantlin connection =witl1 -a mine Jlocomotivev for. in case of a "failure of power or in case a tr IIeyiZS: jumps off of thepowerline, the hydraulic'bnakes will notvberendered-inoperative. Furthermore,

Also-mountedupon the channel I82 is the I aforementionedaccumulatoraBI-below which and suspended from said channel 182 bybracket means I89 is the aforementioned economizer I I4. It isto beparticularly noted that thismechanism requires a relatively small amountof space and the parts are compactly positioned between I the side walls2I of the mine locomotive and in addition-are fully protected by themine locomotive cover plate I90. I g

In the operation of the vehicle and the-system "disclosed in Figs." 1 gto '5' of the drawings, which, as illustrated, is a -mine locomotive butwhich may be some other type of'vehicleit is evident that the brakingmechanisms 39/on the opposite sides of thevehicleassociatedwiththewheels 2 3 may be operatedeither manuallythrough the operating mechanisms, including handwheels 33, or they maybeoperated by -a power hydraulic system and eitheroperation -may beeffected from either endof the vehicle. I

'The'operation by which the'brakes are manu a'lly'applied bycontrollin'gthe hand wheels 33 {is believed obvious from the abo'vedescription. 'Brie'fly described this-operation includes the rotation-ci .either hand wheel 33 to swing one of {the levers 42 associated witheach braking mech- 'anism SS-rearivardly about-thepivot point there- Iof found at its bottomwhich simultaneously applies all' -of thebrake-shoes 40 to the four wheels 24. -Li-kewis'e, the power operatedhy- -draulic' control is I provided for operating 'the two brakingmechanisms 39 simultaneously from 'eithe'r end 'of-the vehicle bycontrolling either one of the control'valves 3-2' while the other is inits full on'position to which-it --must be adjusted to permit removal ofthe single operating lover I I6 which is employedwith the two control;valves 32. j V v Assuming that the vehicle is-traveling along the railsof the mine-track and it is desired to apply-the brakes, the operatormerely moves .maximum available pressure in accordance with :lthesetting'of the lever H6 so thatthe braking action on the wheels T24 maybe set atany de- :sir ed value andthebraking action maybe maini'ztainedat; this: set value. .Furthermoregthebrakes r be readily released; by{returning the handle I in case of any-accident whichrendered the pump59inoperative there is-sti-ll=available asufiicient supply of hydraulicfluid under pressure to oper ate the brakes foranumber of times,thus insuring that the-vehicle can be stopped even under the most adverseconditions. It is, ofoourse, evident thatEas ia-final precaution-themechani-- cal brakes are alwaysavailable in case the hydraulic systemfails completely.

' Furthermore, the economizer I I4 operatesautomatically to take up-all-the slack in the 'brake mechanisms 39-with a minimum'consumptlon'o! hydraulic fluid which is under high pressure and thisconserves tappreciably the hydraulic fluid under high pressure. It is,of course, evident that the economiz'er H4 maybe omitted if thiseconomizing feature' is notdes'ire'd or 1 the ratio of operation thereofmay be adjusted-to any de sired value depending upon thesensitivity-idesired and the amountof-oonservation of high pressurehydraulic fluid'also desired. It'is thus evidentthat'I have providediavehicle with combined mechanical and power opera-ted hydraulic brakeoperating mechanisms which areyeryflexible in operation, insureaa highdegree of :safety and yet which are relatively simple-in construction.

. :In Fig. :6. of the drawings I have. illustrated an I :trolvalve 32adjacentone end. thereof. By ref- ,erenc'e, particularly, to Fig? of thedrawings, ;-it is. of course. evident that only, a; single high pressureaccumulatort'i, pump 59 :and associated mechanismcof the hydraulicsystem isprovided, all of it being situated on one of the minelocomotives as illustrated. They are situated'on the mine locomotiveillustrated at. the right. in Fig. 6 and the verticaludot and dash line:of Fig.

7-indicatesrthedivision between a portion. of the I hydraulic systemcarried ,byzthe two locomotives.

In-viewofv theiabovedescription of the hydraulic systempf Fig. 3, theprincipal elements I of the hydraulic system of Fig, '7 require nofurther description. However, there are certain added elements now to bepointed out.

It is of course evident that theconduits II'Z, H 3 and I29 extendbetweenthe two vehicles.

[ 29 and a three-way-valveifl which," in its normal position, providesthe continuity of the condim l tibetwenthe twolocomotives and-which itsto the drain position or ithey zmayobesset and:

may be adjusted toconnect' conduits H2 and 113 by way of by-pass 243whenever the locomotlves are disconnected. In case of such disconnection, valves 240, and 24! are closed,gthey being normally opened whenthe locomotives are con,- nected and conduits H2, 113 and I29 coupledtogether. It is evident that Fig. 7 of the drawings onlythe brakemechanism on one side of each locomotive is illustrated, but it is ofcourse to..be understood that the brake mechanism on the other side isconnected in parallel. V

In the operation of the tandem vehicle'arrangement of Figs. 6 and 7 itis manifest that the brakes may be applied on both vehicles while beingcontrolled from either of them. If desired, one of. the control valves32 may be eliminated, in which case the control would be restricted toone of the Vehicles. An illustration of this type of system might bewhere the two vehicles comprised a truck and, a trailer or a truck and aseries of trailers, there being hydraulic brakes on the truck and thetrailer or trailers, all controllable from the operators cab on'thetruck. In such a case, only the conduit I I3 would have to extendbetween the several Vehicles.

- It is, of course, to be understood that the hydraulic system may beextended to more than two vehicles and the controls may be n one or moreof said vehicles, it being simply necessary to continue the system byconnecting the control valves 32 in a series.

In Fig. 8 of the drawingsl have illustrated a further modification of.the hydraulic system which is to be understood as applicable to any. ofthe hydraulic systems indicated. I have here illustrated the pump 59 or"the hydraulic system as connected to and driven from the wheels of thevehicle. This arrangement insures the presence of hydraulic fluid underpressure in case of movement of the vehicle and precludes thepossibility of a dangerous situation whichv might arise in case themotor which drives the pump .of the hydraulic system becomesinoperative. As here illustrated, the shaft 26 is directly connected tothe pump 59 by way of a chain and sprocket drive mechanism 244,Obviously those skilled in the art may rnake various changes in thedetails and arrangement .of parts without departing from the spiritandscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and Itherefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what Idesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In wheel brake apparatus, the combination with spaced-apart wheelbrake shoes, of pivotally suspended levers for pivotally supporting saidbrake shoes, actuating levers pivotally connected to said levers, a linkpivotally connected at its ends to the lower ends of said actuatinglevers, an automatically operable slack adjusting device .connectingsaid actuating levers and operable whenever a predetermined amount ofslack develops, a fluid pressure motor connecting said acituating leversentirelyindependently of said slack adjusting device, a brake releasinspring'connectlng said actuating levers, and mechanism ;connected to theupper end of one of said actuating levers to manually spread saidactuating 1e- Vera a'greater distanceapart to secure theap- .plicationof the brake shoes to the wheels with which they are associated. -;;2.In wheel ,brake apparatus, the combinatio with a pair of spaced-apartwheel brake shoes, of means for ,pivotally supporting said brake shoesin association with the wheels of a vehicle, spaced-apart actuatinglevers connected to said supporting means, an extensible link pivotallyconnected at its ends to the lower ends of said actuating levers, afluid pressure motor pivotally connected at its ends to saidactuatinglevers in termediate, theends of the latter and supported thereby,automatically operated slack take-up mechanism entirely independent ofsaid fluid pressure motor and connected at opposite ends to saidactuating levers, and mechanical actuating mechanism connected totheupper end of one of said actuating levers.

3..In a braking system for vehicles, the combination with friction brakemechanism, of means for actuating said 'brake mechanism to apply thesame, said brake applying means comprising spaced-apart pivotedactuating levers, a rigid link pivotally connected at its ends to saidlevers, a brake-releasing spring connecting said levers, a fluidpressure motor connecting said levers, means comprising an automaticallyexpansible link connected at opposite ends to said actuating levers andspaced from said fluid pressure motor for taking up increased slack dueto wear in the brake mechanism when the latter is applied and therebylimiting the slack in the brake mechanismto a predetermined amount whenthe brake mechanism is released by said spring, manually actuatablemechanism connected to one of said levers to effect the application ofsaid brake mechanism independently of said fluid pressure motor,and'means for controlling said fluid-pressuremotor to effect theapplication of said brake mechanism by power without manual actuation ofsaid manually actuatable mechanism.

4. The combination with a vehicle having supporting wheels, of brakeshoes associated with such wheels, brake-applying mechanism connected tosaid brake shoes and comprising spaced pivoted levers, a rod connectedto one of said levers on one side of the vehicle, a chain connected toone of saidlevers onthe other side of the vehicle, an equalizer barconnected at its ends to said chain and said rod, a nut carried by saidequalizing bar, a feed screw threaded through said nut, a journalsupport for said feed screw, a wheel for rotating said feed screw tosecure the actuation oi said rod and said chain to effect theoperationof the brake-applying mechanisms on the opposite sides of thevehicle, two fluid pressure motors one connected to thebrake-applyingymechanism on one side of the vehicle and the otherconnected to,the brake-applying mechanism on the other, side of thevehicle, and means for controlling said fiuidpressure motors.

- 5. The combination with a vehicle having supporting wheels, of brakeshoes associated with such wheels, brake-applying mechanism connected tosaid shoes and comprising two pairs of spaced actuating levers one pairon one side of thevehicle and theother pair on the other side thereof, arod connected to one lever and a chain connected to the other lever ofone pair, another 'rod connected to one lever and another chainconnected to the other lever of the other pair of layers, therod on oneside of the vehicle extend- .lng toward one end of the vehicle and therod on the other side of the vehicle extending toward the other, end ofthevehicle, the chain on one sideof the vehicle extending toward one endof the vehicle and. the chain on the other side of .the vehicleextending toward the other end of the vehicle, mechanism adjacent oneend of the vehicle to exert pulls on one rod and one chain to secure theapplication of the brake shoes on both sides of the vehicle, andmechanism adjacent the other end of the vehicle to exert pull on theother rod and the other chain to also secure the,

to said brake shoes, each of said brake-applyingmechanisms comprisingspaced levers, mechani cal actuating mechanism extending from both ofsaid operators stations to said brake-applying mechanisms, automaticslack adjusting means connected between said levers, two fluid-pressuremotors one connected between the levers on one side of the locomotiveand the other connected between the levers on the other side-of the1oco-. motive, and means for controlling said fluid-pressure motors fromeither of said operators stations.

ROBERT K. J EFFREY,

